There has been a suggestion that colonies or communities should be provided outside the reach of territorial governmental jurisdictions so that the community can develop its own rules and governance free of the strictures of traditional governmental regulations.
It has been a goal of such communities to try out new forms of government to be able to govern the populace and also to present business opportunities such as for aquaculture, pharmaceutical production and the warehousing of software and the like.
One of the tenants of the communities is to provide communities in the middle of the ocean outside of the 12 mile or other limit claimed by nations. To do so there is a requirement for technology that allows offshore communities to exist offshore for extended periods of time in comfort and safety. From the political side where people want to investigate new forms of government, the first order of business is to provide a facility that numbers of people can inhabit which is commercially self supporting, for instance through power generation and aquaculture that takes advantage of the fact that there is a low level of government regulation. In the past, such governmental regulation and government intervention has prevented for instance obese people from obtaining regulation-free treatment. Moreover, less regulated medical services available in less developed counties need to be provided close to the mainland. The structure envisioned would house medical facilities where the cost structure of the land-based medical establishment does not apply. Thus, if a low cost relatively large facility could be established offshore then medical costs could be minimized. This is because regulation-drives overhead of the medical and insurance industries would be eliminated. Providing such an offshore community would make possible local availability of qualified but lower cost doctors and personnel to within, for instance 12 miles of the coast line, as opposed to having to fly patients to such far flung countries as India and Brazil where inexpensive but qualified medical help is available.
Moreover, because of national copyright, patent and trademark laws within a nation, one goal is to establish libraries and manufacturing plants that are free of intrusion from the intellectual property laws of a land-based society.
Moreover, where drugs and their delivery are heavily regulated onshore, an offshore facility could permit experimental drug use, both for saving lives and to provide recreation.
As to aquaculture, another reason to create an offshore aquaculture facility is to provide good healthy fish with for instance low concentrations of mercury. This reduction in the concentration of mercury is associated with open ocean aquaculture. Note that aquaculture associated with shore-based facilities or pens results in unhealthy fish due to the fish excrement buildup, whereas in an open ocean facility the excrement can be made to fall through the bottom of a fish cage to the bottom of the ocean, thus resulting in healthier fish. Moreover, the cages can be mounted to a floating facility moved at a slow rate to cause the fish to swim against the slight current which improves the fish muscle tone and health.
It is therefore the design criteria to be able to house approximately 200 people on a facility that is approximately 160,000 square feet in extent and to be able to provide a structure that supports not only spacious housing, but also recreation areas where the people involved do not feel like they are living in a box or a prison.
It is part of the subject invention to provide a platform which will sustain restaurants, dance clubs, swimming pools, tennis courts, or in short to provide a resort location which is both inviting and unique as a vacation destination, as distinguished from the cramped and crowded conditions aboard a cruise liner.
It is noted that the business model for the cruise ship industry requires cramming as many people into a cruise ship as possible, usually with double occupancy cabins which are quite small. This is not conducive to long-time living. It is desirable therefore to provide a platform which has a large amount of square footage per person and a large common area adjacent the portions on the platform adapted to housing. For instance, it would be desirable to be able to have a single family dwelling which is for instance 1,000 square feet. When using multiple levels this can be accomplished with a small footprint. It would therefore be desirable to have flat areas that are common areas abutted by multiple story dwellings.
Moreover, provision must be made for power generation and water purification so as to provide for the basic needs of the water-born community.
In short, there is a requirement for an offshore structure to sustain a livable community in which the total cost per square foot is minimized while at the same time providing a structure able to survive in the marine environment.